In line with the promise of the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, to leave no stone unturned towards ensuring the successful implementation of the Anchor Borrowers' Programme, the Ogun State Government and Stakeholders of the anchor borrowers' programme have agreed on production cost of commodities.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture, Dr Adeola Odedina, who disclosed this at a Town Hall Meeting for Stakeholders of the Anchor Borrowers' Programme, held at the Tech Hub Complex, Kobape, Abeokuta on Friday, 3rd, of January, 2020, noted that the ABP is a one-stop shop that will resolve issues for farmers through provision of loans by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He further stated that the State and the stakeholders had unanimously agreed on Fertilisers, cost of transportation, scaring birds on rice farms and farmers equity. Noting that CBN is providing the funds while the State is providing the enabling environment, and the national commodity association are also involved in ensuring that farmers are linked to credit, inputs and ready markets.
“This meeting is based on how farmers will make profit from the ABP and repay the lent money, in order to ensure food sufficiency in the State and our youths would as well be engaged.
The focus of agriculture in the State is to link farmers to industries, and get raw materials from them and the Government cannot do it alone, that is why we are doing the Public Private Partnership. We have off takers (representatives of industries and factories) in our midst to off-take cassava from the farmers, as the CBN is ready to make the State a model for cassava production in Nigeria, as the success of the State in cassava production would be replicated in other states in the country”, Dr Odedina submitted.
The Chairman, ABP Steering Committee, Prof. Bola Okuneye noted that the committee had done the necessary paper work to have a successful scheme in the State, revealing that the essence of the meeting is to establish a window between the farmers that buy and those that are supplying them.
Prof. Okuneye also submitted that the meeting became imperative as the committee is trying to bring the major stakeholders (the buyers, the bank, CBN, Input Suppliers) together to minimise the problems of the farmers and ensure increased productivity on the part of the farmers.
Representative of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr (Mrs) Yemisi Olukoya revealed that the job of the Central Bank is 'provide access to affordable loans for farmers', which would be repaid in due course, as well as the assurance of a ready market as there are ready-made off-takers.
She noted that the committee would let the apex bank know what cost of production is, the expected yield and the interest rate, then we consider the agricultural insurance corporation, all these for the farmers to know their profit margin, the variety of what they want to plant and what it would cost them to pay the people that would clear their land.
A rice farmer from Ijebu-Igbo, Mr Isola Olusegun, while extoling the State Government for keying into the ABP, expressed his satisfaction with the meeting, noting that farmers would make profit from the ABP if inputs, fertilizers, chemicals and seeds are delivered on time as well as the mechanised aspect is completed in due time.
He also advised his colleagues that they should not see the financial aspect of the ABP as a give-away, but a loan or grant that would be repaid, saying that they should be sincere with whatever output that comes out of their farm.
